The Beast Within, 2024.

Directed by Alexander J. Farrell.
Starring Kit Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, James Cosmo, Caoilinn Springall, Adam Basil, Ian Giles, and Martina McClements.

SYNOPSIS:

After a series of strange events leads her to question her family’s isolated life on a fortified compound deep in the English wilds, 10-year-old Willow follows her parents on one of their secret late-night treks to the heart of the forest.

Where is a film supposed to go when the central metaphor is painfully obvious from the early stages? The Beast Within director Alexander J. Farrell doesn’t really seem to know, trying to obfuscate this into a story of mystery and dread. It’s admirable that he is allowing it to unfold from the unassuming and innocent perspective of a 10-year-old daughter, but in doing so, he keeps the viewer one step ahead of her practically until the climax. This also wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the characters had some depth to them, which the film takes as giving the child an illness conveniently requiring oxygen during moments of terror and, expectedly, typically losing that source of air during the danger.

Beginning with the all too common phrase “there are two wolves inside” proverb, it is made apparent that the literal beast Kit Harington’s Noah mutates into once a month is perhaps not the only beast to worry about. If you had a hunch that this family drama is not so secretly about domestic abuse, you would be right. And even though Kit Harington is putting in the work trying to convey a multilayered father who can snap and turn into a figurative beast at any moment, putting his wife Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings) and child Willow (Caoilinn Springall) in danger from his path of outward physical anger, the film still amounts to nothing more than a metaphor that needed more time and another rewrite (Farrell also wrote the screenplay alongside Greer Ellison) to cook up something compelling around that dynamic.

There isn’t anything special to note about the beast’s design, which also happens to be generic and buried in darkness to cover up what had to of been a low special effects budget. However, a creative aesthetic and unnerving unfamiliar designs can always overcome that budgetary constraint. Here, it is nothing more than the most familiar of werewolf tales.

Imogen takes Noah deep into the woods once a month to shackle him up, ensuring that he doesn’t fatally wound anyone he loves during one of his regular transformations. Curious about what is actually happening, why her father disappears once a month, and why her mom has bruises and marks all over her body (the viewer’s first clue that not all of this is probably related to the literal monster), Willow sneaks away from grandfather Waylon (James Cosmo) to follow her parents and see what happens. Fortunately, Imogen catches on and can protect Willow following the mutation.

As for Waylon, he mostly exists to explain away exposition regarding this generational curse. The rest of The Beast Within consists of Willow slowly learning the dark truth about her father, and once again, that’s not strictly limited to the supernatural element. For such a perilous folkloric concept, there also isn’t much dread or suspense, and the surrounding forest isn’t exactly striking to look at or appropriately ominous (it’s filtered through a weak display of smoke or fog, giving the impression of a sinister environment but not feeling it.)

There is one captivating scene observing father and daughter in the woods, with the former cutting some wood, casually engaging with her about her interest in helping, taking on big responsibilities, and generally coming across as a gentle and wonderful guardian. In that same scene are flashes of the cruelty within The Beast Within. It’s the closest the film comes to functioning as compelling, otherwise hampered by the tiny scope of its blatantly obvious metaphor bludgeoned into the viewer five minutes in.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embed/playlist

Transformers One is a 2024 American animated science fiction action film based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line. It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing duo of Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari.

The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.

Overview

The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but who once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. It is set on Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers, and depicts the origins and early relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

In March 2015, following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman to set up a writers’ room to create ideas for potential future Transformers films.

By May 2015, Barrer and Ferrari had signed on as writers, and they came up with the idea of an animated prequel set on Cybertron. The film was announced in August 2017, and by April 2020, Cooley had been hired to direct.

Story

Sworn enemies, once friends. An untold story for Orion Pax and D-16. The story followed the early days on Cybertron where Orion Pax wanted more from life whereas D-16 was just happy following the ideas and rules of Sentinal Prime.

The story showcased the friendship between the two enemies and how they always looked out for each other mainly D-16 saving Orion Pax from the trouble he gets into. The story shows that not everything is what it seems which ultimately ends in a war for Cybertron.

The story delivered the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron. The story showed that Orion wanted to find the spark and become something other than a miner whereas this was also the beginning of D-16 turning into Megatron.

While the story focused on the origins of Orion Pax and D-16, in the background it delivered the origins of the two factions that ultimately go to war for centuries. The story delivers a fresh look into the war, the connections, and the uphill struggle for leadership on Cybertron.

Characters

Obviously, the characters within this movie would not be the same characters we see later in their history, the rugged, war-torn Cybertronians we saw in later movies. The characters within this movie were all light-hearted, friendly, and well-respected in the sense that everyone got along with each other, there were no Autobots vs Decepticons.

Chris Hemsworth as the voice of Orion Pax was such a great choice for the voice acting, Chris has a voice that is friendly but also can be a mean leader when needed. Bryan Tyree Henry as the voice of D-16 was a unique choice but ultimately was able to capture slow turn into evilness.

One of my personal favorites within the movie was B-127 voiced by the incredibly funny Keegan-Michael Key. While we’ve seen some early days of Bumblebee within different Transformers projects, this one gave us a new spin on the character as someone who essentially was forgotten about on Cybertron, left on a floor of Cybertron that no one went to.

For the full cast list, you can visit IMDB by clicking here.

Hype

Now the hype for this movie seemed to be very well. People were generally excited to see it. I continued to see people talk about the movie even after its release in the States. From comments such as “The best Transformers movie” to “It didn’t need to go this hard”.

The hype has been hurt because of the box office performance as of now. The movie had a budget of 75 – 147 million dollars but at the box office has only reached $100 million.

Favorite Moments

1. Seeing just how smart and curious Orion Pax actually was before coming Optimus Prime. He would break into the archives searching for the answer to what happened to the first Primes and the matrix. While he does get caught, he gets away by his best friend, D-16.

2. Seeing how easily Orion gets D-16 into some adventures. Orion manages to get D-16 into the race to prove they are more than just minors but ends up losing the race and gaining the respect of Sentinal Prime.

3. The introduction to B-127. We are seeing how forgotten he was by other Cybertronians and forced to work in the garbage incineration. He’s just full of life and is always at 110% energy to the point where he still speaks when knocked out.

4. Trion provides cogs to the group to allow them to become full transformers and see how gaining a cog and some information revealed changed the group. You saw Orion, B-127, and Elita-1 all become better while D-16 slowly began to turn evil.

5. After a battle. D-16 shoots Orion but catches him before he falls to his death, although, this was the moment Megatron was born as D-16 tells Orion that he’s done catching him and lets him go. Orion falls into the spirit of the Primes where he receives the Matrix of Leadership and revives him as a new prime, Optimus Prime.

Dislikes

Honestly, going into this I thought I would have some dislikes but I was surprised to see that I didn’t have a single dislike.

Recommend?

Would I recommend this? For sure! It’s everything. This movie is for the children who like Transformers and animated movies and this is for the Transformers fans who want to see the early days of Cybertron.

Verdict

A fantastic prequel movie that sheds new light on the time before Cybertron was ravaged by war and destruction. The movie showcases a friendship between Optimus Prime and Megatron long before they were enemies. The action was fantastic. The story was great and the animation was incredible.

Rating: 9.4/10

Transformers One is available in cinemas worldwide. You can visit here for more information on Transformers One.

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When Gustavo Dudamel became music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic 15 years ago, the ensemble had already under Esa-Pekka Salonen become the orchestra of the future, playing far more new music than another in America. Dudamel’s response was to commission and premiere even more. His first gala began with the premiere of John Adams’ huge symphony, “City Noir.” The next night, for his first regular subscription concert, he premiered Unsuk Chin’s “Su.” With that he began a tradition of beginning each season with a premiere that has had huge ramifications for L.A. and beyond.

This year, though, the L.A. Phil gala was not, as it had been for over a half-century, an October surprise. The program paired Lang Lang as soloist in Rachmaninoff’s potboiler Second Piano Concerto with the full score to Ginastera’s ballet “Estancia,” a Dudamel favorite that he has performed complete in Walt Disney Concert Hall and in excerpts at the Hollywood Bowl over the last two years. But Dudamel lived up to tradition by opening the season with the premiere of a major cello by Gabriela Ortiz and a new staging of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” featuring Spanish film star María Valverde.

Presumably the reason for the same-old, same-old gala (which I missed to hear Julia Bullock perform “Harawi”) was that this week Dudamel and the orchestra were in New York to present the same gala program for Carnegie Hall’s fancy opening night. That might seem more daring for a big fundraiser in a town where Ginastera’s wonderful ballet is little known. Meanwhile, the New York Philharmonic will catch up with the 15-year-old “City Noir” when Adams conducts it next month.

In fact, two years before Dudamel takes over at the New York Philharmonic, Dudamel-mania reached New York with three L.A. Phil concerts at Carnegie. Following the gala were a repeat of the Ortiz-”Midsummer” program (Ortiz is Carnegie’s composer-in-residence this season) and the concert he gave with Natalia Lafourcade at the Bowl last month. The L.A. Phil will take all three programs, dominated by Latin American music, to Bógata, Colombia.

Dudamel and Ortiz have developed a particularly close relationship. Two recent L.A. Phil commissions — a violin concerto, “Altar de Cuerda,” and the ballet “Revolución Diamantina,” have just been released as recordings by the orchestra and are major contributions to new music.

“Dzonot,” Ortiz’s new cello concerto written for Alisa Weilerstein, takes its title from the Mayan word for abyss. In mythology, it refers to both the source of life and the entrance to the murky underworld. The concerto is full of sonic imagery that travels above and below ground, down to the rivers in deep caverns and up in the skies to the environmentally threatened toh bird.

The solo cello does not stand out in the way the violin does in “Altar de Cuerda.” Instead, Weilerstein seems to serve as part of the weird Mayan underground, with its mysterious gods and beasts. In one movement, she becomes the enchanted voice of a jaguar; in another she channels the song of the toh. The rainforest envelopes all, the orchestra percussion rich and curious.

This is an intriguing fit with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Dudamel’s longtime collaborator, Alberto Alvero. The production centers on Valverde, who read lines of different characters in a Spanish translation of Shakespeare. Fleet, flitting here and there, in front of the orchestra and behind, her Puck seems to become the toh bird. Bottom as represented in Mendelssohn’s overture is jaguar-like. The vocal music — which featured Jana McIntyre, Deepa Johnny and the Los Angeles Master Chorale — is sung in the original English.

Arvelo writes in his program note about his fascination with cultural transformations: what happens to Shakespeare spoken in Spanish, what happens to “Midsummer” interpreted by a German composer, what happens to the play when it inspires painters from different eras and cultures (paintings were projected overhead), what happens when Hollywood gets it imaginative hands on things (clips from Max Reinhardt’s 1935 classic were included).

Much of this flew by, especially if one tried to read the English surtitles. Where to look? What to listen for? What’s what? The L.A. Phil sounded brilliant. Disney was lighted to be a wonderland. Valverde, who is Dudamel’s wife, intoned as might a magician. More translations came in the transferring of this program from Disney to the formal, old-school resonant, Carnegie.

That the L.A. Master Chorale took part was significant. The chorus has but a small part in Mendelssohn’s score but brought more magic. Such luxury casting, though, was hardly affordable for the L.A. Phil tour.

Plus the Master Chorale had been occupied with something of its own, celebrating its 60th anniversary three days later at Disney. The chorus and the L.A. Phil have an essential partnership. The Master Chorale was founded by Rodger Wagner to be a companion resident company at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which was built for the L.A. Phil and opened Dec. 6, 1964.

Although the Music Center doesn’t thus far seem to be giving this anniversary much attention, the Master Chorale had a special program Sunday of 22 short, mostly a cappella pieces that ranged from the 16th century to the present. They were meant to show the range what has become, under Grant Gershon, one of the most versatile, to say nothing of the finest, choruses in America.

There is little the chorus can’t do. It has been an essential institution on its own and in its collaborations with the L.A. Phil. This time there was no Philip Glass or Meredith Monk or Steve Reich or Nico Muhly or other composers Gershon has championed in his transformative 23 years as music director.

Instead, there were small pieces, quite a few by little-known composers, along with Bruckner motets, bits of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff and Bernstein. It would have been unlikely that anyone other than Gershon had heard of all the composers, the likes of Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla (1590-1664) or Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795-1856). The music of the late Elinor Remick Warren, whom Dorothy Chandler commissioned to write the chimes theme for her pavilion, made a welcome appearance.

Yet this long, obscure miscellany turned out to be a garland of little gems. Little was major or important, but each one was special, capable of reminding us that the sound of this chorus in Disney is a splendor to be encountered nowhere else.